Back in 1969 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) created a new kind of money — the ultimate form of international money, it believed — called the Special Drawing Right. You can’t shop with an SDR, nor trade it or even touch it. Unless you crunch numbers for an international organization like ...read more

WHAT A BUSY WEEK for the International Monetary Fund! And it’s just over halfway through. Just how busy will the IMF get when it helps host the G-7 meeting of policy wonks from the world’s seven richest nations in Washington this weekend? Rumors were that finance ministers from Europe, Japan, the U.K., ...read more

“Individually or together...er...in pretty difficult and uncertain times...er.” IN TIMES OF CRISIS, IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO KNOW there are bright, committed people working nonstop to sort things out. Or so everyone seems to believe. Stormy weather needs strong, decisive characters manning the tiller. Clever people, men of action — men like Alistair ...read more

THE G-7 APPROVED THE IMF’S GOLD SALES plan this weekend in Tokyo. Quoting a Morgan Stanley analyst endorsing the plan, “This is arguably a good time to consider selling some of these gold holdings and investing the proceeds in financial securities with positive yields.” According to the same article, the head of ...read more

So where we last left off…we have a currency manipulator on our hands, I said, but what are we going to do about it? The fact is when it comes to currency manipulators, you have to ask: Who isn’t one? With that said, buckle your seat belt for Part II. If this Fair ...read more